We stood talking in the water. Waist deep. 6.30am. Saturday. I’d just managed 100 metres in the shallows without drowning. He was about to do an easy 1500. Probably more. I was heading into shore. He was heading into the deep. We stood talking in the water. Common humanity. He farewelled me with ‘See you […]

The Big Issue has just published Down the Garden Path. Here’s how it starts: My neighbor pulls up as I’m standing in my front yard looking, again, at all the weeds, wondering where on earth to start. “What’s the plan?” he asks cheerily, closing his car door. “Oh, there’s no plan,” I say. “There’s never […]

Here’s the cycling story The Big Issue ran a few weeks back under the headline Tour de Flat. (#540 30 June to 13 Jul7 2017). Cheers. Flat tyres fill cyclist Vin Maskell with dread but he always gets back on his bike. Eventually. I was stranded by the roadside, about eight kilometres from home. Flat […]

Here’s a new Stereo Story of mine. Based around the Leonard Cohen song Alexandra Leaving, it’s a tribute to my late sister-in-law, Jan, who died just over 12 months ago. Regards Vin. Alexandra Leaving Stereo Story

Never thought I’d be in a magazine with Nicole Kidman on the cover. The latest edition of The Big Issue Australia features the Kidman story (written by Margaret Pomeranz), an interview with Ben Mendelsohn, a look at The Handmaid’s Tale – and a yarn about cycling and the existential perils of getting a flat tyre. […]